P3X595
by SJC8
Summary: What happened on P3X595 where Carter drank that stuff that made her take off... The mission behind the infamous line. Takes place between 'The enemy within' and 'Emancipation' so spoilers only if you haven't seen far into the start of Season 1.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1 or the characters, I'm just borrowing them for a while for my story and I'm not making any money for it. This is all for fun so please don't sue folks :-)

_AN/ In the first series of Stargate there many times when the dialogue refers to events that have happened outside of the episodes which we get to see. One of them is the events of P3X595. During the episode 'Emancipation' O'Neill refers to a time when Carter was pleased to see the team after drinking something that made her take off… we never find out what it was but by Carters reaction we know that it was embarrassing. All the cultural references come from internet research and are loosely based on Aboriginal Australian Dreamtime Mythologies. If they are incorrect then please remember this __is __only a work of fiction, and my intention was to write only a story, not to offend anyone._

**P3X595**

Colonel Jack O'Neill strode through the SGC corridor with the kind of look on his face that had every airman on the base ducking out of his way, hot on his heels was the only man who dared challenge him when he was in this mood; Daniel Jackson, the resident Archaeologist and only remaining civilian member of the SGC.

"Jack, we have to go back there!" he shouted after the Colonel running behind to catch up to him.

Ignoring Daniel's argument he continued stalking towards General Hammond's office. He was going to be in for an ass chewing when he got there and he wasn't looking forward to it. Unperturbed, the young Archaeologist continued to press his case.

"We should find out exactly what that stuff was, why the Goa'uld took them there in the first place, why they didn't go back – Jack this is all important if we're fighting the Goa'uld! Ask Sam, she agrees with me here – we have to find allies to fight with"

That got his attention, he stopped and turned so suddenly that Daniel almost ran into him.

"Oh yeah Daniel great idea! Let's just go ask Carter now shall we, see how keen she is to go back after they drugged her! We don't need those kinds of allies Daniel, we're not going back"

"But Jack…"

"Daniel damn it I said no! Hammonds orders! He's debriefing the President right now explaining how one of his officers on the SGC flagship team came back through the gate high when we were supposed to be looking for Alien technology."

The two men held each others gaze for a tense moment, Jack O'Neill's dark brown eyes turned almost black with irritation as Daniel's constant head-butting was starting to wear down what was left of his patience. Daniel only held his gaze tight lipped for the time being, although constantly frustrated with the military exploration policy he felt partly to blame for what had happened to their team mate. At Daniel's silence O'Neill's eyes softened a little before he continued towards the Generals office.

"You want to go back there Daniel, you make your case to the General"

_**48 hours earlier**_

Colonel Jack O'Neill emerged from the Stargate onto P3X595 and stepped out into the hazy sunlight of the worlds early morning. The Stargate was in a large clearing surrounded by lush tropical forest vegetation on all sites and what appeared to be a ruined temple near the tree line. It could almost be anywhere in the tropics on earth, but as he put on his sunglasses and looked up twin suns of the planets binary system shone in the sky casting a slightly bluish tint to the daylight.

It was the third set of viable co-ordinates produced by the program Captain Samantha Carter had written adjusting for interstellar drift opening up the vast network of Stargates across the galaxy, and the novelty of finding himself on an alien planet thousands of light years from Earth had not worn off. Not for him or the members of his team.

The young Air Force Captain responsible for the Stargate computer program stood in position to the right of the Stargate scanning the tree line, her P-90 at the ready. She was so young and eager to please that O'Neill almost found her amusing, despite his typical dislike of scientists, she was a good officer and he was warming to her presence on his team.

"Captain Carter, report"

"No sign of the Goa'uld Sir, by the looks of the place they haven't been here in a while"

O'Neill turned to his left where the stoic Jaffa warrior had mirrored Carter taking up position on the other side of the Stargate.

"Teal'c, do you agree with that assessment?"

"Indeed O'Neill, this planet appears to have been abandoned by the Goa'uld for some time"

Looking around and peeling back the Velcro on his watch cap O'Neill checked the time before making his way down the remaining steps away from the Stargate towards the Dial Home Device where the forth member of his team, Dr Daniel Jackson, was carefully examining the interface.

"You got the seventh symbol?"

"Yes, but what's fascinating is that those ruins over looks a little like one of the temples on Abydos but are so overgrown that the Goa'uld probably haven't been here for several hundred years, this planet may have been abandoned long ago"

O'Neill had been satisfied at 'Yes' and was busy scanning the nearby trees as Carter and Teal'c had done on their arrival. Trust Daniel to be interested in a stack of abandoned rocks. Nothing about this place suggested a hoard of Alien technology that they could use to fight the Goa'uld but he wasn't ready to dismiss the planet just yet.

"OK folks, we have 2 hours before SGC contact so that gives you 2 hours to either find something worth staying for or call this mission a bust and head home"

"Yes Sir"

Carter nodded sharply and pulled out a device for detecting energy signatures from her combat vest. Daniel Jackson however was less than pleased and registered his protest.

"2 hours? That's it?"

"That's right Daniel, if you want to stay longer then find something worth staying for"

"Like what Jack? These ruins alone make it worth staying longer, the inscriptions could tell us…"

"Tell us what Daniel? Look if there isn't anything written here that says, I don't know, 'big honking space gun' then we're out of here"

"But Jack…"

"2 hours Daniel! I suggest you get started and make the most of it"

Daniel bit his tongue as Teal'c and O'Neill took up defensive positions, he never could understand the military and the "get in, find the guns, get out" approach and instead made his way over to investigate the ruins near to the Stargate. On the walk over Carter caught up with Daniel and took the opportunity to smooth the difference in opinion. She had years of experience of taking orders whether she agreed with them or not while Daniel was new to the game.

"Don't take it personally; the Colonel is military and the first priority of our standing orders is to ascertain the threat and find technology to fight the Goa'uld. He's just following protocol"

"You're Military too Doctor, um… Captain"

"Please, call me Sam." She smiled over to the archaeologist keen for her new team mate to use her first name. "Yeah, I'm Military, but I'm also a scientist so I'm interested in ways to_ build_ new technologies, or learn from alien allies more advanced than us"

"So why can't Jack see that too? I thought after the first time on Abydos he'd be a little more receptive to other ideas but I guess he's not really changed much"

"He's following orders too Daniel. If you want to put your case forward, you have to choose the right moment. The Colonel will just shoot down any argument in the field because it's we're his responsibility and we have to do it his way. Trust me, it's a military thing"

Daniel nodded with a new perspective. He still disagreed with Jack's attitude but he understood that he had not exactly chosen the best moment to argue.

"Right. Thanks"

Plants and trees grew up through and around the broken temple and towered above as thought the ground had reclaimed the building and torn it down over the vast expanse of time. Carter scanned the area but after coming up with nothing of interest she turned her attention helping Daniel Jackson, who was busy translating a large Triptych that depicted imagery of what appeared to be a god and some constellations that Sam didn't recognise. They had become so engrossed in documenting and translating the text that O'Neill's voice over the radio made them both start with surprise.

"_Carter, Daniel, Come in"_

"This is Carter. Go ahead Sir"

"_Found anything yet?" _

"There are no energy signatures indicating Goa'uld technology but Daniel has found something, we're trying to translate a wall of text that may be important"

"_How important?"_

"Daniel thinks there may be a civilisation here that defeated the Goa'uld, we're not sure how yet"

"_How long do you need?"_

This was typical O'Neill, always the military mind only interested in the practicalities: is there anything we can use? How long until we can use it? Daniel knew that he would have to make these inscriptions interesting by putting them into a language Jack understood.

"Jack, this is going to take a day or so, I'd like to at least stay that long to finish the translation. It may be other structures nearby, some of those could contain information or technology that we can use"

After a pause, O'Neill's voice crackled over the radio once more.

"_Alright, I'll send a message to the SGC. We'll camp tonight and report back tomorrow. O'Neill out"_

After reporting to General Hammond and getting permission to extend their stay off world by another day, O'Neill returned to the site of the ruins. The small twin suns were dropping lower in the sky and it wouldn't be long before they needed to set up camp.

"OK folks, what have we got here that's worth spending a night camping instead of in a nice warm bed?"

Daniel furrowed his brow and looked at his watch, it seemed like they had arrived only a hour or so ago and yet they had been translating the text on the wall most of the day.

"From what we've managed to translate so far the Goa'uld came here around 30,000 years ago and brought people here as their slaves. There may be a civilisation on this planet that are their descendents. From the looks of things, they may have overthrown the Goa'uld, someone by the name of Namir'kun. At least I think he was a Goa'uld, it describes a lightening god who speaks with thunder as his voice. He rides storm cloud and throws lightning bolts to man and trees which I guess could be the hand device we've seen before." He paused a moment gesturing towards part of the Triptych that he had been translating

"It also mentions that he lives in a 'puddle', so that could be an oblique reference to the Stargate. Sam thinks that the constellations on that tablet may be linked to the Stargate like the cartouches on Abydos."

Resting one hand on his P-90, O'Neill waved the other at the ruins that surrounded them.

"So if there are people here what happened to them? I don't see any sign here Daniel, if there are then they should sack the housekeeping"

"Who knows Jack, I mean it's a big planet, they could be anywhere by now they may have moved away from the Stargate a long time ago. I don't think this building had much significance besides as a Goa'uld welcome mat; a kind of offering temple or meeting place"

"Teal'c does this Nama… what's his face, sound familiar to you?"

"It does not O'Neill"

Suddenly a noise caught Carter's attention and she raised her hand to motion for them to be quiet.

"Wait…"

Teal'c opened his staff weapon and readied his stance as O'Neill listened and looked around him with his P-90 ready, on hearing nothing he whispered to his Captain.

"Carter?"

She nodded quickly and indicated the direction the sound came from, O'Neill signalled his orders and carefully they moved towards the direction of the sound.

In front of them, a young boy lifted his head out from behind a fallen stone block then quickly ducked back again on seeing them head right towards him.

"It's a human boy, Sir"

Carter whispered with a hint of surprise in her voice. O'Neill nodded in agreement before signalling to proceed while he and Teal'c covered her.

"Hello? It's ok, we're not here to hurt you, we'd just like to talk"

"Ulanji!"

The cry came out from the other side of the ruin and followed by a blur as something flew towards Teal'c head. With lightening reactions, he hit the object to the floor and aimed his staff weapon towards the boy who had thrown it. In an instant, Daniel Jackson was beside Teal'c and pushed the weapon away from where it was aimed.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"

Carefully Daniel walked out closer to the boy and picked up the object that he had thrown, examining it carefully.

"Jack, I think he's from Earth. This is a boomerang"

"Talk to him Daniel, find out about the Goa'uld"

"I doubt he'll understand, but I'll try" Daniel slowly took another step towards the boy and held out his hand "Hello, I'm Daniel Jackson"

He pointed to himself and repeated his name. The boy stepped out from behind the pillar where he had been hiding and regarded him carefully before pointing at Teal'c.

"Ulanji"

"Ulanji? What is Ulanji?"

Thoughts raced through Daniels mind as he tried to recall everything he had ever learned about South Pacific and Aboriginal Australian cultures, suddenly he remembered something.

"Of course! Ulanji, the snake spirit from Aboriginal mythology. The tattoo, he thinks Teal'c is a kind of snake spirit"

O'Neill was confused; once again, Daniel wasn't making any sense.

"Daniel? Is he from Earth?"

"Yes! Yes, Jack, do you realise what this means?"

"Tell me anyway"

"Ra was not the first Goa'uld to visit Earth," Teal'c stated blankly.

How or why that was significant wasn't really on O'Neill's mind right at that moment, all he could think of was how they were going to communicate with the scared child in front of them and make sense of the place.

"So can you talk to him or not?"

"Right, right um…"

Daniel stepped closer to the boy and took out a notebook to draw the chevron for Earth in the hope that the boy would understand. It took some time and after a bit of confusion the two were smiling and gesturing wildly with their hands to one another. O'Neill was getting impatient.

"Daniel?"

"Ah, sorry, I think he understands that we're not here to hurt him. I don't speak any native Australian but I remember a few words from the Dreamtime mythology and we seem to be communicating using the notebook. His people are nomadic and they have a village not far from here. I think he want's us to go with him to see some kind of Shaman or leader"

O'Neill raised his eyebrows not entirely sure how Daniel had made sense of their situation but was quietly impressed at the Archaeologist none the less.

"OK. Looks like we're off to see the Wizard"


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1 or the characters, I'm just borrowing them for a while for my story and I'm not making any money for it. This is all for fun so please don't sue folks ;-)

_AN/ In the first series of Stargate there many times when the dialogue refers to events that have happened outside of the episodes which we get to see. One of them is the events of P3X595. During the episode 'Emancipation' O'Neill refers to a time when Carter was pleased to see the team after drinking something that made her take off… we never find out what it was but by Carters reaction we know that it was embarrassing. All the cultural references come from internet research and are loosely based on Aboriginal Australian Dreamtime Mythologies. If they are incorrect then please remember this __is __only a work of fiction, and my intention was to write only a story, not to offend anyone._

The story so far…

The team gate to P3X595 where Daniel discovers some old ruins and convinces Jack to stay longer on the planet. During their investigations they meet a Human boy of Aboriginal Australian origin and realise that the Goa'uld must have been visiting Earth in ships long before the Stargate was used by Ra. The boy doesn't speak English but Daniel finds a way to communicate with him and they go with him to his village.

_**Chapter 2**_

"Wow, Jack, look at this place, its incredible!"

Daniel eagerly followed the boy from the ruins who lead them through the tropical forest to a small clearing where a village appeared as if from nowhere, as though it grew from out of the earth, rocks and jungle of its own accord. As they entered, the villagers gathered to stare in wonder at the strange pale visitors. All were human and resembled Aboriginal Australians with dark mahogany skin and wavy hair, dressed in beautifully coloured robes decorated with a mixture of bright and earthy colours, intricate patterns resembling local plants and animals with polished stones and shells in their fastenings and jewellery.

The boy brought them directly to the village elder, who had a large white beard with beads woven into it and a bush of grey white hair on his head. He introduced the elder as Rinje, the eldest and wisest of his people, and he invited them to sit on bright cushions in a large hut like structure decorated inside with coloured swathes of cloth. As they sat down a young girl approached Carter cautiously smiling at her. Sam smiled back and watched as she settled down within arms reach.

The young girl was beautiful with large brown eyes and she did not stop staring at Carters light blond hair the whole time. Sam leaned across to Daniel and whispered to him slightly uneasy by the attention; all the staring reminded her of all those first days at a new school whenever her father would be transferred to a new Air base.

"Daniel, why is that little girl looking at me like that?"

"Well Sam, you're probably the first blond person she's ever seen. We're probably the first people to visit them; I think that's maybe why our guide from the ruins was so afraid of us"

Carter nodded in understanding and relaxed a little; the young girl seemed to sense the change in her mood and moved closer to touch Sam's hair. Carter ducked her head towards the girls hand and smiled as she gently felt the texture and compared it to her own dark curls. O'Neill looked on and quietly pleased. His team may seem like an odd bunch at times and Carter would not normally have been his first choice, but he was unsure how a bunch of 'tough guy' special ops military men would have been greeted here. The locals appeared to be welcoming them and his during his initial assessment he hadn't caught sight of any weapons which was always a good sign, even if they were outnumbered.

Daniel was a typical over enthusiastic scientist most of the time, he hadn't changed much since the day Jack met him. Carter seemed to balance being a fine officer, a capable soldier, and scientist. Not to mention innocent looking enough not to scare the locals. O'Neill took a moment to glance at the Jaffa at his side. Teal'c never seemed to show any emotion, he was big and scary yet behind his dark eyes was a wise mind that knew when to take action and when to let others take the lead. O'Neill had to admire the grace with which Teal'c accepted his command. There are few men that could go from leading an entire army to serving under other command light years from home, let alone fold his 6'4 form to sit cross legged and dignified while Daniel did what he did best.

As the village settled down Rinje sat down opposite them and gestured for them to speak.

"Hello, I'm Daniel Jackson, this is Colonel Jack O'Neill, Captain Doctor Sam Carter, and Teal'c. We're peaceful travellers from Earth, the Tau'ri"

Daniel offered the page in his notebook showing the seventh chevron in Earth's Stargate address and the old man seemed to understand they were from beyond the stars even if he did not know exactly where and that their intentions were peaceful.

After some time Daniel had made some headway through the language barrier, using some ancient Goa'uld and Teal'c help with a few words he had understood quite a lot of what they had been told. Rinje invited them to stay the night and celebrate their friendship and over dinner, which O'Neill agreed to once Daniel had managed to convince him that _they _were not on the menu. Sitting by the fire with the villagers sharing plates of vegetables, fruits and something that appeared to be a roasted wild boar, O'Neill started to relax a little reminded of the hospitality of the Abydonians and thankful that he got to avoid eating MRES on yet another mission. While they ate, Daniel explained to the team all he had learned of the origin of the Aborae peoples.

"So you're saying that Namir'kun brought all these people here by ship as slaves then used the Stargate to transport people and offerings throughout the galaxy?"

"If I'm interpreting their mythology correctly Doctor, uh Sam, yes"

"So how did they overthrow him?" Jack asked trying to make sense of how a seemingly simple living folk could overthrow the Goa'uld.

"We'll according to Rinje, the god Namir'kun first appeared to them as a lizard but later took one of the village people, a beautiful young girl and took her body as his own. This angered the Aborae people who felt that the land spirit that entered her body had essentially been evicted by Namir'kun and they no longer saw him as their god. There was some kind of uprising like back on Earth in ancient Egypt and a warrior from the Aborae people threw a boomerang at Namir'kun. The force of the blow killed him, I guess they didn't have a sarcophagus around to revive him, or um, her"

"Maybe the Goa'uld didn't have that technology then." Carter pondered, cocking her head to one side as she ran over the possibilities in her mind "I mean, the Goa'uld are scavengers by nature so maybe they hadn't come across it yet"

"What of Namir'kun's Jaffa" Teal'c questioned.

"I'm not sure about that." Daniel crossed his legs in front of him and started flicking through the notebook to a page Rinje had drawn for him earlier. "Rinje described men that were crossed between lizards and ants that came from the mountain, which I'm assuming was the ship, but they became less in number. I'm guessing that the Goa'uld really were dying off at the time"

"The Goa'uld have used many species as hosts, they only prefer humans as the body is easily repaired with the sarcophagus"

"Right, that's how Ra became so powerful back on Earth"

"So like on Earth, the Goa'uld that came here didn't come in a human host" Carter surmised.

"It looks that way"

"Great, so no big honking space guns then, just…boomerangs" O'Neill said sarcastically "OK guys we stay here tonight with these fine people then we ship out tomorrow unless you can give me a good enough reason to stick around - and Daniel you know what I mean by a good reason before you start with the old rocks again "

Before Daniel could argue, Carter jumped at the chance to make some headway with her own research.

"Actually Sir, with your permission I'd like to observe the stars tonight in order to update the navigational computer at the SGC"

"Sure. Great, so this mission isn't total bust then?"

Daniel was amazed at how short sighted Jack O'Neill could be at times.

"Well I wouldn't say that Jack, we made first contact with a people who haven't seen anyone from Earth in 30,000 years, I'd say that's pretty incredible. Who knows what we can learn from them, they've maintained their nomadic culture and lived in harmony with their planets resources"

Jack sighed, he should have seen that coming.

"Daniel I'm looking around and I think that maybe we could learn just as much at home, we're out here to find technology and weapons to defeat the Goa'uld and get Sha're and Skaara back. Everything else can wait"

Exasperated and somewhat annoyed that Jack would doubt Daniels own desperation to get his wife and brother in law home he pressed further.

"Jack, no one is more keen to defeat the Goa'uld and get Sha're and Skaara back than I am, I'm just saying that the achieving those objectives and making contact with these cultures are not mutually exclusive goals"

Pausing for a moment Jack looked at the young archaeologist and replayed the words in his head, as though slowing down the caffeine hyped sentence all would become clear. It didn't, and instead he frowned in frustration.

"What?"

Sensing an argument brewing between her commanding officer and the Archaeologist, Carter quickly stepped in as intermediary.

"I think what Daniel is saying Sir, is that by meeting other cultures we could not only learn a lot but we could become allies against the Goa'uld"

"Exactly!"

Finally pleased to have someone from the military on his side Daniel slapped his hands together in exaltation which only succeeded in aggravating the Colonel further.

O'Neill eyed them both carefully and sighed. It wasn't that he disagreed with Daniel over making intergalactic friends; he was just becoming impatient with the progress they had made since they started visiting other worlds. So far they hadn't found any cool anti-Goa'uld stuff and if every mission involved hours of Daniel translating and gesturing he wasn't sure he could cope. O'Neill was a man of action, talking was Daniel's box of tricks. Taking a deep breath he decided that it was time to take a walk and leave cultural attaché work to Daniel and Teal'c.

"Fine, we are here all night so Daniel learn as much as you can, make friends and tomorrow we report back to Hammond, it's his call whether or not we come back here. Teal'c, you stay here with Daniel, Carter we'll go set up your telescope."

As the last vestiges of daylight slipped below the horizon Sam completed setting up the telescope on a small outcrop not far from the village. The planet appeared to have no moon and with only the light of the village fires far enough below in the valley she was guaranteed a good view of the stars.

This was the first time that SG-1 had spent a night off world where they were not captured or being chased by Jaffa and the excitement pulsed through her. Ever since she was a child Samantha Carter had dreamed of going into space but she never imagined she would actually get to camp out on another world. The telescope gave her the perfect opportunity to stay awake and enjoy the moment as she doubted she'd get much sleep anyway. As she looked up from her equipment she spotted Colonel O'Neill returning to check on her.

"You all set Carter?"

"Yes Sir, with these observations I should be able to update the computer back at the SGC to make a more detailed Star chart. It's incredible really, up to now we've had to rely of probe data and telescopes to view the universe and from Earth that means that the light we receive has been travelling through space for millennia. Sir, this could completely alter our understanding of the universe!"

"You know, you and Daniel are like a couple of kids in a candy store when you get all excited about this science stuff"

Remembering that the Colonel had his own telescope on the roof of his house Carter couldn't help but wonder if the grumpiness was just a front.

"You mean you're not excited by instantly travelling to other planets outside our solar system, meeting lost civilisations and sleeping out under a blanket of stars that no other human on earth has ever seen?"

O'Neill couldn't help but smile a little realising she probably saw straight through his pretence after he'd shown her his rooftop sanctuary.

"Oh I'm excited on the inside, like Teal'c. What are you looking at anyways?"

"Actually I'm making a record of the major constellations unique to this world. The one I'm observing right now has a nebula unlike any I've seen before. Would you like to take a look, Sir?"

"Sure" He moved to kneel down beside her and peered through the lens. "Nice. So…how is it different from a regular nebula?"

"The colour of the gasses are related to the presence of certain elements, the unique colouration of this gas cloud indicates much heavier elements than are typically found in other nebulae which suggests that the cloud probably formed after the destruction of other nearby stars that reached the end of their life. The difference is there are no stars inside the nebula and none nearby, at the moment it's just a gas cloud only a few light years across. Young nebulae are usually composed of much lighter elements so this one is really quite unique…"

"I'll take your word for it Captain"

Not entirely understanding everything she was saying O'Neill decided not to let her waste any more of a perfectly good explanation. Stopping mid sentence Carter realised that she had probably let her excitement get the better of her but at least her CO was smiling, she couldn't help but return it.

"Yes Sir"

"Listen I don't like leaving you up here on your own but it's not far from the village and Daniel wants to chat some more with the leader guy Ringo, so check in every 30 minutes on the radio, understood?"

"Yes Sir. Don't worry, I'll be fine"

"OK. Don't stay out here too late, we ship out early tomorrow"

Watching him leave Carter shook her head confused. O'Neill wasn't like any other CO she had ever served with before and she still wasn't entirely sure what to make of him. Having her check in every 30 minutes on the radio made her think that he didn't entirely trust her ability as a soldier yet, even on night patrol in the Gulf she'd had more leeway. Thinking maybe O'Neill considered Daniel and herself as kids to be babysat, she was determined to prove him wrong. O'Neill wasn't the first CO to doubt her just for being who she was, either as a woman, or the daughter of a General, or in this case a scientist, but she knew she'd win his trust sooner or later.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1 or the characters, I'm just borrowing them for a while for my story and I'm not making any money for it. This is all for fun so please don't sue folks ;-)

_AN/ In the first series of Stargate there many times when the dialogue refers to events that have happened outside of the episodes which we get to see. One of them is the events of P3X595. During the episode 'Emancipation' O'Neill refers to a time when Carter was pleased to see the team after drinking something that made her take off… we never find out what it was but by Carters reaction we know that it was embarrassing. All the cultural references come from internet research and are loosely based on Aboriginal Australian Dreamtime Mythologies. If they are incorrect then please remember this __is __only a work of fiction, and my intention was to write only a story, not to offend anyone._

The Story so far…

SG-1 travel to P3X-959 and discover a civilisation that was taken from Earth thousands of years before Ra ruled in Egypt; a civilisation based on Aboriginal Australian culture. After travelling back to the village Daniel finds out that the resident Goa'uld may have been overthrown by a simple weapon and destroys O'Neill's hope of finding something more interesting. Meanwhile Sam has other ideas and sets up her telescope just outside the village boundary to map the night sky.

_**Chapter 3**_

While Daniel took the opportunity to talk more with Rinje, O'Neill watched as the rest of the villagers sang songs and performed dances in honour of their visitors. The dances told various stories of creation, hunting, gods and other mythical creatures that appeared to be crossed between man and animal. Most of it went over O'Neill's head but Teal'c appeared to take interest, whether or not he was enjoying it was anyone's guess, his face certainly gave nothing away. Carter had dutifully checked in every 30 minutes as ordered but he couldn't help but wonder how she was doing up there on the rocky outcrop, part of him felt guilty sitting by the fire at the party while she was out there by herself.

As though reading his mind, the Captain returned and sat down beside him near the camp fire.

"Captain? All finished?"

"Not quite Sir, I have to go back in a few hours when a few more constellations appear over the horizon. I'll go back in the morning before we break camp and make the final recordings. How was you're evening with the locals?"

"Oh, you know...educational. Teal'c's having a great time, aren't you buddy?"

Teal'c simply raised a curious eyebrow in reply to O'Neill's sarcasm and Sam stiffled a chuckle. For a man who spoke few words Teal'c had mastered a thousand phrases with his eyebrows. Seeing Sam smile brightly with the warm firelight reflecting on her face Jack saw a different side to his ever efficient new second in command, one that could relax for more than a millisecond. He found himself caught for moment until her gaze landed back to him. Clearing his throat he reverted quickly back to his patented self defence system while mentally chiding himself for becoming distracted.

"He's such an exaggerator!" Jack gave a wry smile and prodded at the fire in front of him before spotting Daniel on his way back from his talk with the village elder. "Here comes Daniel, I'm sure he'll give you the full run down, Captain"

Daniel almost bounded back towards them as though he had just been told the great secrets of the universe and couldn't wait to tell the first people he could find. With a simple nod of acknowledgement to Sam's return he sat down heavily at Teal'c side and began to explain the reason for his excitement, all the time he was talking his hands were never still, a stark contrast to the Jaffa at his side.

"Jack! I've just been describing the ruins we found near the Stargate to Rinje and he told me that his son found another set similar near to this camp which was used by Namir'kun when he ruled here"

"We ship out tomorrow Daniel" Jack replied, nonplussed at the thought of another day watching Daniel dig around in the dirt.

"But Jack this could be important!"

The tête-à-tête between Daniel and O'Neill reminded Sam of being 15 again, stuck between her father and brother when they would start arguing. Curious about the ruins and overwhelmed by the urge to play the peacemaker again she intervened once more.

"Daniel, did Rinje say what was significant about the other ruin?"

"Not exactly but from what I understand there are a number of constellation symbols like the ones we found on the Triptych, who knows, maybe this Goa'uld was one of the first to understand the Stargate network"

Sam shrugged and hopefully towards her commanding officer, a better understanding of the Stargate network could open up a lot of possibilities to them and she was eager to check it out.

"It could be worth a look Sir, if it's not far from here then maybe Daniel and I could go scout it out and report back"

Suddenly feeling like he was in charge of a couple of kids at a funfair wanting to try every ride, O'Neill didn't dare let the two of them out of his sight for long for fear that their combined enthusiasm would carry them both off and he would see neither hide or hair of them again.

"No. You need to get some rest if you're going to finish off mapping the star chart. Teal'c you stay here with Carter, Daniel and I will check out this wreck and see if merits a longer stay – and Daniel, that means technology or something useful to fight the Goa'uld"

"Great!" Daniel slapped his hands together with the kind of excitement that made O'Neill feel old "I'm telling you Jack, this is important. You'll see!"

Rinje's son led an exuberant Daniel Jackson and a reluctant Jack O'Neill out of the village in the direction of the ruined temple leaving Teal'c and Sam by the campfire. It was the first time the young Captain had been alone with her Jaffa team mate and she was suddenly struck with indecision over making conversation. He wasn't exactly the most talkative Jaffa she'd ever met, but then she hadn't exactly stopped to shoot the breeze with any others they had encountered so far. Just as she pondered the chattiness of Jaffa in general the young girl who had sat near her when they first arrive appeared again offering cups to them both and smiling.

"Hi, oh, um…thanks"

A little unsure, Sam picked up her cup and cautiously sniffed the liquid before looking over at Teal'c who bowed thanks to their young host.

"Um, Teal'c, do you know what this is?"

"I do not, Captain Carter." He brought the simple wooden cup under his nose and inhaled the aromatic vapours slowly. "It does not appear to be alcohol"

Examining the contents of the cup carefully by washing the liquid around the inside she considered what Colonel O'Neill would have done. Using some caution he'd let them eat off world, the villagers were all human and so long as there was no alcohol she couldn't see the harm.

"Well we ate a little of the food earlier and that was fine. I guess it can't hurt to try it"

"Indeed. Perhaps we would offend these people by refusing"

With one swift easy gulp Teal'c downed the warm liquid raising a look of surprise from his younger companion. Once again, he bowed his thanks and set the cup on the ground in front of him.

"Down the hatch I guess" Sam mumbled as she raised the cup to her lips and began to drink.

It didn't taste all that bad but it didn't taste as good as it smelled either, it was smooth, flowery and tasted slightly earthy. However it had been getting pretty cold out on the outcrop over the last few hours and she was grateful to feel the warmth of the liquid heating her core. Finishing her drink Sam smiled at the young girl and set down the cup in front of her just as Teal'c had done, nodding her head in thanks remembering that neither party spoke any language that the other understood. The little girl just smiled at both of them collecting up their cups and beckoning for the two of them to follow her. Getting up from their place by the campfire and curious to where the little girl was leading them they followed gingerly, passing unsure looks between them as they went.

Leading them into one of the huts they saw four small beds that had been newly constructed, carefully woven from tree branches and soft leaves from the upper canopy of the forest. Earthy red swathes of cloth covered them as blankets and a small fire burned in the centre of the hut that was shaped like a rounded Tepee. It was simple but clean and comfortable looking.

"Wow, these folks sure know how to make you feel welcome!"

Taking the little girls hand, Sam gave her thanks both in English and in a deep nod of her head which was returned before the girl grinned and skittered out of the door in excitement.

Sitting down on the far bunk, Teal'c tested the bed and seemed vaguely satisfied while Sam bit her lower lip in amusement at the large Jaffa. He was well above average height and most of the villagers were fairly small people. As a result Teal'c perched awkwardly on the small bed giving him a truly giant like appearance.

"Teal'c, are you going to be comfortable like that?"

"It will suffice for Kel'no'reem"

Sam furrowed her brow in confusion at her team mate, she had started to pick up a few Goa'uld words from working with Daniel and Teal'c but she was certain she had never heard that particular term before.

"What's Kel'no'reem?"

"As a Jaffa, I do not require sleep. However I must enter a deep state of meditation to allow the symbiote I carry to make necessary repair to my body" He explained matter-of-factly.

"So, you don't sleep at all?" She asked, incredulous, sitting down on the opposite bunk to face him.

"Extremely rarely. It is not a necessity once a Jaffa receives a symbiote"

"Teal'c, that's amazing!"

Teal'c raised his eyebrows somewhat surprised at his team mates interest with his routine lifestyle. He had never before experienced such curiosity from humans regarding Jaffa rituals, but then in his previous life humans were seen only as slaves to the Gods. The humans of the Tau'ri were as much a source of fascination him just as he was to them.

Envious and curious at her Jaffa team mate's ability to forgo sleep, Sam began to wonder if she would miss dreaming if she had the same ability. Cocking her head to the side and frowning slightly she hesitated for a moment to question Teal'c further.

"Do you dream while you… uh… Kel'no'reem?"

"I do not."

It was the longest conversation that Samantha Carter had ever had with her new Jaffa team mate and it was getting difficult to tell if he was uncomfortable about answering questions about his sleeping habits or if he just wasn't the conversational type. He certainly applied a good deal of thought to his every word, as though his time as first prime of Apophis had taught him to be mindful of his tongue. For the time being Sam decided to leave the subject alone and started to unpack her sleeping bag from her back pack.

"Right, well, speaking of sleep - or rather lack of it, I should probably get some rest before I go out to complete the star map. Are you ok to keep watch for a while until the others get back?"

"Indeed"

With that, Teal'c stood, bowed once and left Sam alone to take his post outside the hut that their team had been given for their stay with the Aborae people. Watching him leave Sam shook her head in wonderment at the large Jaffa.

"Ok, well, wake me up if you get bored and need someone to talk to"

Climbing into her sleeping bag Sam didn't feel the least bit tired but knew that she needed to be alert and ready for the next day, she couldn't afford to let the Colonel down. Taking a sleep breath and releasing it slowly she forced herself to relax and imagine that she was in her own apartment instead of on a new world far from home. Her body obeyed dutifully but her mind refused to cease as one thought after another bombarded her consciousness as though she was wired from too much caffeine. Since the arrival of Daniel Jackson she had been drinking much more of the bitter liquid batting around ideas in each others lab while getting to know each other.

Turning over onto her side she sighed aloud and tried to relax her mind by closing her eyes and focusing on an imaginary blanket of stars in an obsidian sky, expanding it ever wider until all other thoughts were pushed to the far corners of her mind.

"Just because they look like old rocks to you Jack, doesn't mean they didn't have any other significance to someone"

Sam's eyes sprang open at the sound of Daniel Jackson's voice.

Had she actually managed to get some sleep? It felt like they had left only a few minutes ago.

Checking her watch she realised she had actually been asleep for almost an hour just as Daniel blustered into the hut they had been given before Teal'c could finish warning him. He saw her at the last second laying in the sleeping bag looking at him beneath heavy eyelids.

"Oh, I'm sorry Doctor; I didn't mean to wake you"

"It's ok." She lied, propping herself up on her elbows "What did you find?"

"Nothing, just some sweet folks some old rocks" Colonel O'Neill stepped into the hut answering her before Daniel could get a word in. He looked around taking in the sparsely furnished accommodation. "Nice place, are the beds comfy?"

"I'd hardly say we found nothing Jack!" Said Daniel ignoring the older mans question. "Doctor you have to see this place tomorrow, there are paintings all over the ceiling of the temple. It's similar to the one we found near the Stargate but smaller and in a better state of repair."

Jack sat down on bunk nearest the door behind where Daniel was getting over excited for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, and rolled his eyes. Didn't the man ever get tired? Even Carter looked like she was having a hard time keeping up with his rapidly verbose descriptions.

"I think maybe the Aborae people painted over the top of the Goa'uld markings and incorporated them into the artwork in some places, it seems to tell a story of their history. I think it may be some kind of...um...pictorial calendar – "

"Daniel, aren't you tired yet?" Jack interrupted "It's been a long day, it's time to put the notebook away and get some sleep"

"Sleep? Are you kidding me? Jack this is the find of the decade and you want me to sleep?" Daniel paced flicking through his notebook as the young Aborae girl gingerly stepped into the hut carrying two cups in her hand which she offered to the Colonel and Daniel.

"Oh, wow, thank you… er… what is this?" Daniel asked as she handed him the cup. Seeing the confused look gloss her face he asked again using some of the local words he had picked up throughout the day.

" Amarina pache pittalliko. Alkoomie" she told him, nodding her head and gesturing for him to try the beverage she had given him.

Searching through his limited vocabulary of native words to understand the meaning the Archaeologist paused for a moment frowning at the cup in his hand. Jack's eyes passed from the girl to Daniel and back again waiting for any of what she had just to make sense.

"Daniel?"

"Um, if I'm right then this is some kind of tea made from...uh…Rain flowers? I think"

He sniffed at the drink and instantly sneezed spilling the entire contents of the cup over himself.

"Damn it!" he flapped the t-shirt fabric to dry it off "Yep, definitely flowers in there"

The young girl rushed to help Daniel clean off his clothing concerned that she had been the cause of the accident but he quickly assured her that he was fine, handing back the cup and smiling in a way that made her laugh at him. Bowing her head and saying something in her native tongue she took the cup and left them in peace for the night.

"I've always been more of a coffee man myself" said O'Neill as he set his own cup down beside his bunk. "Speaking of which, Daniel you should really lay off that stuff if this is how excited you're going to get every time we find something new off world"

"Well it's either coffee or I fall asleep during mission briefs, the anti-histamines the new Doctor gave me are great to help counter the worsening of my allergies from gate travel but they make me a little drowsy without the caffeine boost. Besides, why break the habit of a lifetime?" He smiled with a certain amount of pride for his coffee vice.

"So that you don't drive us crazy with the incessant chit chat?" O'Neill replied dryly.

"I do not talk incessantly, Jack" he retorted.

"Do too"

"Do not!"

The giggle from Sam's bunk caused both men to pause and turn towards the young Captain who was still tucked inside her sleeping bag.

"What?" They said simultaneously.

"And you said…we were like…kids" Sam eventually managed in between fits of giggles, motioning to herself and Daniel.

"Yes, well…" The Colonel cleared his throat at a loss for a moment as he got up from the edge of his bunk, he had never been laughed at by his second in command before, or at least not before a few beers. "I'm going to take over watch from Teal'c for a while. Daniel, get some sleep no more talking, and Carter?"

"Sir?"

"No more giggling – that's an order"

_A/N - I know, I know, when are you going to find out what Sam actually does that's so embarrassing?? Don't worry, it's coming up in part 4 which is written and currently being Beta read - thanks Linwe! The suspense won't be for much longer. _

_If you like the story it's always nice to hear, and if you don't then equally I'm all ears - without the feedback I can never improve. All I ask is you give a reason so that I can learn from any mistakes or do more of the things that work. Thanks for reading:-)_


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1 or the characters, I'm just borrowing them for a while for my story and I'm not making any money for it. This is all for fun, so please don't sue folks!

_AN/ In the first series of Stargate there many times when the dialogue refers to events that have happened outside of the episodes which we get to see. One of them is the events of P3X595. During the episode 'Emancipation' O'Neill refers to a time when Carter was pleased to see the team after drinking something that made her take off… we never find out what it was but by Carters reaction we know that it was embarrassing. All the cultural references come from internet research and are loosely based on Aboriginal Australian Dreamtime Mythologies. If they are incorrect then please remember this __is __only a work of fiction, and my intention was to write only a story, not to offend anyone._

_This part (the bit you've been waiting for) is out a little earlier than I thought it would be on account of the lovely reviews and because I'm really excited after just buying my first proper car - yippee!_

_** A BIG HUGE THANK YOU TO LINWE - Fabulous Beta lady, for getting all the corrections done so fast!**_

The Story so far…

SG-1 travel to P3X-959 and discover a civilisation based on Aboriginal Australian culture. Although they find nothing of strategic value, Sam sets up a temporary observatory to map the stars and update the SGC computer. After enjoying a meal with the locals Daniel and Jack leave to explore a nearby temple leaving Teal'c and Sam in the village. They are offered a Rain flower tea which they drink before Jack and Daniels return, and Sam gets a little giggly before bed…

_**Chapter 4**_

Quickly switching off the alarm on her watch before waking her sleeping team mates Sam rubbed her eyes and sat up in her bed, she had barely managed to get any sleep at all with the excitement of being on another world. By the time Daniel had finished relaying the information of his trip to the temple with much gusto it had gotten quite late. As a result only three hours had passed since she actually settled in for the night. Climbing out of her sleeping bag, she paused a moment as a wave of dizziness passed over her.

Steadying herself on one hand she scrubbed the other over her face and instantly regretted letting Daniel keep her up after the Colonel had ordered them both to sleep. _'No time for regrets now' she_ thought to herself as she shook off the sleep and put on her boots. Sitting on her bed she stole a glance over towards Daniel, who had fallen asleep with his glasses askew and was snoring slightly on the bunk opposite, she couldn't help but grin at the sight. At that moment, he turned sharply in his bunk narrowly missing kicking Colonel O'Neill's head as his feet dangled over the edge of the cot.

Suddenly Sam was overwhelmed with the urge to laugh and had to cover her mouth with her hand to stopherself making a sound. As quietly as possible, she made her way outside the hut smiling at Teal'c who was still on watch, before heading out along the short walk to the outcrop where her telescope was set up.

Making her way up the hill to her telescope Sam couldn't help but wonder if she had been paying full attention before; the torches lighting the dirt pathway gave it a slightly golden hue and for a moment she felt slightly like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz walking along the yellow brick road. An image of Teal'c, Colonel O'Neill and Daniel dressed as the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Cowardly lion flashed into her head and she chuckled to herself as she reached the top of the path and the spot where she had left her equipment.

Sam turned the telescope one last time and noted the measurements of the stars in one of the more complex constellations, her work made easy by the brightness of the stars that twinkled in the night sky. Never on Earth had she ever seen the stars so bright, not even on the many camping trips her father would take the family on year after year, out up into the mountains away from bright city lights where her love affair with the universe had begun. As she worked she let her mind linger on the fond memories of sleeping out under the enormous twinkling canopy imagining she was an astronaut on a space station far above the Earth.

After recording the last of her observations she packed away the telescope, laptop and notes. Just as she closed her rucksack a wave of hot nausea washed over her making her sit down on a rock and breathe deeply until it passed. Whatever it was that the little girl had brought her was now starting to disagree with her and instantly she regretted drinking it, in hind sight perhaps drinking bizarre alien beverages was not the most sensible thing. What was it they always say; hind sight is always 20:20.

Sam sat upright on the rock taking a deep breath and looking back up towards the night sky. What she saw took her breath away and took her mind off the nausea which was fast becoming a distant memory. Above her the stars were glowing brightly and seemed close enough to touch, even the faintest stars in the night sky now shone like beacons twinkling at her like jewels set in a velvet dark sky. It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen and nothing could pull her attention away.

The longer she sat watching the stars the brighter they became, all thought of returning to the village melting away. Laying back on the rock she reached up almost convinced that her hand would touch the heavens, to her surprise her fingertips swirled the stellar light show and rippled out from where her hand met the sky as though the night was a reflection in a still pond that she could play in.

Gasping in wonder Sam was amazed at what she was seeing. Part of her wanted to question how it was possible but the sight was so beautiful that the child in her took over revelled in wonderment. Transfixed, Sam laid staring upwards until she realised that something was touching her skin and making her clothes feel damp. Running her fingertips over her skin cool pin pricks followed in their wake. It was too dark to see but it felt like rain drops, and her uniform began to feel moist under her touch. The coldness that had previously made her shiver out on the outcrop was gone and instead she was filled with a warm glow that made her skin flush.

The jacket of her uniform suddenly felt heavy and wet against her and she slipped out of it letting it fall to the ground behind her. Laying back down Sam noticed that her boots felt hot and tight against her feet and she longed to feel the cool rain on her hot skin. Knowing she should ask permission to remove her boots thoughts of Colonel O'Neill filled her mind, he would be amazed to see this and it would cheer him up after spending all that time sat around while Daniel had all the fun conversing with the locals.

Feeling slightly guilty that she had been enjoying the spectacular show all on her own while he was down in the village, she stood up and began to make her way back where she could tell him what she had seen and bring him back to the outcrop with her. Pushing herself up from the rock she had been sitting on her hand touched the cool stone surface, it felt silky smooth like a sculpture, and looked just like her favourite armchair at home if she tilted her head a little.

Blinking hard against the image knowing it was the dark playing tricks on her she turned towards the path leading through the trees back to the village and her jaw dropped at the sight. The trees had not seemed quite so tall on her way out here, or at least she hadn't remembered them being so tall. They reached up to where the luminous twinkling orbs that were once tiny stars hung in the velvet black, as though the trees and the sky were one. Snapping her vision back to the path in front Sam began to make her way back, not entirely sure how she was going to explain all she had seen to Colonel O'Neill.

Always the first of the team awake, Jack slowly opened his eyes and sniffed the cool morning air. Turning onto his side he saw Daniel still sleeping with his glasses askew on his face and a book still in his hand resting on the edge of the bed. Sound asleep the nasal snores resonated with every breath, aggravated by his allergy to more or less everything. Shaking his head, Jack sat up in his sleeping bag and scanned the rest of the room. Carter's bed roll was empty.

Leaning over he placed his hand on the open sleeping bag which was cold to his touch, it had been empty for a while. A sudden heightened alertness kicked in lifting the remaining fog of sleep as Jack realised he hadn't heard her return from her early morning stellar observations: he heard her leave but not come back.

Coming out of the structure that Rinje had put aside for SG-1 to spend the night O'Neill saw the first rays of daylight appear on the horizon, nearby Teal'c stood outside the hut staring out at the black forest taking up his post on watch.

"Teal'c, have you seen Carter yet?"

"I have not O'Neill. She has not returned from her star observations"

Checking his watch he realised that she was easily a half hour over due for return and he was struck with a cold twist in his gut. He grabbed his radio from the top of his combat vest and spoke into it harshly.

"Captain Carter, report"

Silence over the radio made the twist in his stomach turn another notch, he hoped that this was just Carter getting side tracked the way Daniel did and not something worse. His instincts prickled telling him otherwise.

"She should have been back by now. Teal'c, stay here with Daniel while I check on Carter"

Making his way up from the village through the narrow forest that lead up to the clearing concern started to swirl in Jack's stomach. They had only known the local people one night and although they had seemed a friendly enough group reminding him of the people on Abydos, he was starting to second guess the wisdom of letting one of his team out alone away from the village. He picked up his radio and tried it in the hope that she may have just been side-tracked before.

"Carter, this is O'Neill, Come in"

Still no response came.

"Damn it, Carter, where are you?" he muttered through gritted teeth.

Walking through the clearing that led up to the rocky outcrop where Carter had set up the telescope Jack found it hard to believe quite what his eyes were showing him. There laid on the grass in nothing but her bra and combat trousers rolled up to the knee Captain Carter was waving her outstretched hand up at the sky. Her boots and the remains of her uniform were scattered across the clearing discarded haphazardly in a trail from the outcrop. Panic shot adrenalin into his muscles as he ran over to her fearing the worst, that she had been attacked.

"Carter! Are you alright?!"

As he got closer, he noticed that she seemed calm and relaxed without so much as a scratch on her. Relief washed through him and he found himself staring at the semi naked form of his 2IC. She was lithe and athletic from her Air Force training, and although Jack knew she was all woman beneath the shapeless BDU's he hadn't quite pegged her for a Victoria's Secret kind of girl. Swiftly covering the space between himself and his Captain and wrapped his own jacket around her shoulders, confused at what would possess this regulation-stickler young officer to strip off her uniform. One thing was certain; she was in for an ear bending.

"Colonel!"

Carter greeted him excitedly and smiled a 10,000 watt grin, springing up to her knees she wrapped her arms around him squeezing him tightly, almost knocking him down as he attempted to clothe her.

"Captain Carter! What the hell are you doing!?"

"I was just on my way to come and find you but the forest looked so different… you have to come and see this it's amazing!!"

Grabbing his hand Sam began to pull her surprised and slightly annoyed CO back towards the outcrop where she had left the telescope. Taken back by her carefree demeanour Jack let her drag him a couple of paces before sharply tugging her back to face him, only just catching her by the shoulders as she stumbled into his chest.

"Captain where is your uniform? Are you drunk?!"

As though unaware that parading around half dressed in the woods on an alien planet was not acceptable behaviour she looked at him confused and slightly offended.

"Don't be silly! I'm not drunk! Come on you have to see this you'll love it!"

She was grinning happily as though she hadn't a care in the world, as if he wasn't her CO, and as though any of this wasn't inappropriate. He hadn't known her long but he knew enough; something was very wrong.

"Why are you out of uniform Captain?"

"It got wet in the rain, besides its _way_ too hot out here. Come on you have to come and see this, it really is amazing, there's so many stars and you can literally touch them!"

Once again Sam grabbed his arm and started to pull him back to the telescope only to have him grab both arms and turn her to look at him squarely. Jack was getting increasingly agitated by the lack of sense in her response, a mixture of annoyance and concern swirling in his chest tempering the _other_ thoughts that he should not be having about his 2IC after seeing her so undressed.

"Carter, stop! What are you talking about! What rain?!"

Grinning wildly at him she giggled and pointed up towards the sky, following her gaze he looked up to see a smattering of feint stars becoming more dim by the minute as the twin morning suns rose.

"Look! The stars are so bright! I've never seen anything like this before! Look what happens when you…"

"Carter! The sky looks like it did last time I came up here! Only difference is you've lost your uniform and your making less sense than before!"

O'Neill had lost patience with this scenario. Holding her by the wrist he grabbed her t-shirt from the floor and attempted to pull it over her head like he was dressing a child.

"Hey! Wow… I feel dizzy… "

"Carter, look at me! What's going on? What's the matter with you?!"

"Lay down here and touch the stars, the rain is warm anyway it doesn't matter if you get all wet because…uh…"

Her eyes rolled back and Jack barely had time to catch her before she fell to the ground.

Laying her down carefully, quickly he found the rest of her clothes and dressed her before putting her boots back on her feet and carrying her back to the village. In the dim light of the torches surrounding the camp he could see her face was flushed pink and her body radiated heat in his arms. Teal'c spotted him carrying the young Air Force Officer and quickly ran to assist.

"O'Neill! Is Captain Carter injured?"

"No, I think she's OK for now though she's definitely behaving strangely" Laying the young Captain down just outside the hut he checked her temperature and pulse. "Teal'c, did she seem ok when she left this morning?"

"I believe so O'Neill"

Hearing the commotion Daniel stuck his head out of the door putting his glasses back on to see what was happening.

"What's going on guys? Whoa…is Sam OK? She's not hurt is she?" rushing over to help he knelt down opposite Jack but wasn't entirely sure what he could do. Taking off his jacket Daniel folded it into a makeshift pillow and placed it under Sam's head.

"I don't know Daniel" Now that he could see her better out of the trees and in the morning light O'Neill was relieved to note that the young Captain appeared uninjured if a little inebriated "She was acting like she was drunk or something."

Teal'c frowned for a moment. Although Jaffa generally did not imbibe alcohol he had seen occasions where human slaves had been drunk from manufacturing alcoholic concoctions. Somehow he couldn't quite imagine Captain Samantha Carter drunk and questioned his understanding.

"Do you believe Captain Carter to be intoxicated?"

"I don't know right now Teal'c. Did she eat or drink anything last night?"

"Only the same food and beverage that was offered to all of us. I am unaffected and both of you did not drink from it"

Confused for a moment O'Neill took off his cap and scratched his fingers through his hair. He had to be missing something.

"That's it? Nothing funky?"

The large Jaffa raised his eyebrow in confused curiosity at O'Neill's choice of words.

"Funky?"

"Alright, never mind. Daniel, get Carter's and your things together, we're going back now. Teal'c can you carry her?"

"Indeed"

While Daniel quickly gathered their belongings O'Neill checked Carters pulse and gently used his thumb to open her right eye. Her pulse was strong and fairly fast and even in the darkness her pupils were blown unusually wide making her deep blue eyes appear almost back. She looked as though she had been drugged somehow, but he wondered what could have had this affect. Feeling his thumb against her eye lid Carter blinked and shook off his hand before dropping her head back and mumbling incoherently causing O'Neill to sigh loudly in frustration.

What the hell had he been thinking leaving her on her own? Clearly she had the same knack for finding trouble that Daniel had and _that_ was going to be a problem. Maybe he had got it right first time, damn scientists were nothing but trouble.

_AN - HHHmmmm what could have made Carter to that? - I hear you ask. Find out in part 5 coming as soon as possible!_

_If you like it / hate it - let me know, all feedback welcome._


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1 or the characters, I'm just borrowing them for a while for my story and I'm not making any money for it. This is all for fun, so please don't sue folks.

_AN/ In the first series of Stargate there many times when the dialogue refers to events that have happened outside of the episodes which we get to see. One of them is the events of P3X595. During the episode 'Emancipation' O'Neill refers to a time when Carter was pleased to see the team after drinking something that made her take off… we never find out what it was but by Carter's reaction we know that it was embarrassing. All the cultural references come from internet research and are loosely based on Aboriginal Australian Dreamtime Mythologies. If they are incorrect then please remember this __is __only a work of fiction, and my intention was to write only a story, not to offend anyone._

The story so far…

The team arrive on P3X-595 where they meet a civilisation based on Aboriginal Australian culture. Captain Carter and Teal'c drink some of the native tea while Daniel and Colonel O'Neill investigate some nearby ruins. Early the following morning while Sam is out taking the last of her star observations for the SGC computer, she begins to hallucinate and doesn't return to the village. O'Neill goes out to look for her and finds her behaving most un-Carter like in a clearing. Realising something is very wrong with his 2IC he evacuates the team back to Earth…

_**Chapter 5**_

Emerging through the blue event horizon back at the SGC, Teal'c carried Captain Carter over his shoulders following Daniel Jackson and Colonel O'Neill down the metal ramp towards a waiting General Hammond. Seeing Captain Carter unconscious, a wave of concern flashed in the Generals eyes and he turned to the control room to order a medical team to the gateroom.

"Colonel, report."

"Captain Carter appears to have been intoxicated, Sir"

The General's brow furrowed and he nodded sharply. "Have your team report to the infirmary, Colonel. The minute you have clearance I want you in my office. I want to know exactly what happened on that planet." The deep Texan drawl did nothing to smooth the irritation in his voice.

"Yes, Sir." Jack responded crisply.

"That would make two of us" he added quietly, as Teal'c lowered Sam onto the gurney brought by the medical technicians.

Doctor Janet Frasier examined Sam while Jack looked on and answered the many questions thrown at him by the base Chief medical officer, his concern growing the more time passed with his 2IC in the infirmary.

The young Captain was in a state of apparent delirium, completely unaware of her surroundings and unresponsive to everyone; she had been that way since her team carried her back through the Stargate. Daniel and Teal'c apprehensively waited for news of their friend as they underwent their post mission medical screening in the next bay.

"…And that's when I found her in the clearing waving her arms around and trying to drag me towards the outcrop. I thought maybe she was drunk or something, but when I saw her eyes…I'm thinking it was something else" Jack explained. "Do you have any idea what it is?"

The petite doctor listened with her stethoscope counting the rapid beats of Samantha Carter's heart before finally answering the Colonels question, still continuing with her assessment.

"It's hard to say until we run further tests. Her temperature, heart rate and respiration are all elevated as well as light sensitivity and the obvious change in behaviour you described." She lifted and turned Sam's hands and arms one at a time before turning her attention to the exposed skin around the neck. "I don't think it was anything she ate or you'd all be affected, there are no external injuries or puncture wounds so that probably rules out any aggressive flora or fauna. The only other factor is the…what did you call it Doctor Jackson?"

"Oh, ah… Rain Flower tea, or at least that's what I translated it to." Daniel explained.

"Right, that" Janet confirmed, nodding towards Daniel.

"Wait a minute; Teal'c had some of that stuff. If it was the tea wouldn't we be wrestling with him by now?" Jack questioned gesturing to Teal'c on the nearby infirmary bed having his blood pressure taken.

"Jaffa physiology is a little different from human, and to be honest Colonel I don't know what we're dealing with here. Blood tests should reveal any abnormalities; viruses, toxins and so on. We'll need to take samples from all of you and I may need to ask you some more questions so you'll need to stay on base."

Jack nodded his head, tight lipped. Sitting down on the edge of the infirmary bed next to Sam's he felt helpless and responsible; this was the worst part of command.

Janet inserted a needle into the Sam's arm and began to fill small vials of blood to send to the laboratory for analysis, the nurse at her side taking each one and labelling it before taking them away. As the doctor withdrew the needle and pressed the cotton swab to the Captain's arm, she noticed her patient had woken and was watching her with some confusion. Handing the needle to the nurse at her side, Janet spoke softly.

"Captain Carter, you're in the infirmary at the SGC. How are you feeling?"

Sam's brow furrowed as she looked around, unsure of where she was. The last thing she remembered was being out in the forest with Colonel O'Neill watching the stars and telling him about the rain. Here there was light everywhere, so bright it hurt her eyes and blinded her from seeing the room. In front of her was a woman who had bright orange skin, her voice echoing, and every now and then her bones would show through her face like an X-ray picture allowing Sam to see her skull.

"I'm Dr. Janet Frasier, the new Chief Medical officer for the base. We met a few days ago for your pre-mission health check, remember?"

"You're not the Doctor! Where am I?!" Sam looked around the room with increasing anxiety and began to back up the bed away from the strange orange woman who looked more alien than human. Was she a Goa'uld?

The fear in the Captain's face was evident and growing, it was clear that she didn't know where she was or how she had come to be there. Jack stood up straight and squared his shoulders, he had seen this before. Not in the SGC, not for decades in fact. Everything in him screamed to act but he held back a moment, hoping that his instincts were wrong and the Doctor would diffuse the situation before it got out of hand.

"Captain, listen to me. You're safe here, you're in the SGC. My name is Doctor Frasier and…"

"No!" Sam screamed at her pushing the small doctor backwards.

It was too late; Sam scrambled awkwardly off the end of the bed and backed away from the Doctor, shielding her eyes against the light and staring hard at the woman in front of her, blinking furiously as though trying to shake off a nightmare. Looking around her frantically, Sam bounced along the infirmary wall bumping into beds and nurses, sending equipment flying across the room as she tried to put more distance between the doctor and herself. Teal'c and Daniel sprang up from their beds to help stop Sam from hurting herself, but the medical staff pushed them back to give her space.

Everything she bumped into appeared to come from nowhere out of the light, masses of green and white cushions caught her and enveloped her before pushing her towards smooth, cold grey rock faces. Looking at the floor there was water flowing everywhere as though she stood in an ankle deep torrent. Where had the stars gone? Where were the trees? Why was it so hot? The questions raced through Sam's head; what the hell was going on?

"Where is Colonel O'Neill?! Where am I?!" She yelled, turning in the bright room trying to find the way out by feeling along the wall and shielding her eyes from the light.

Horrified by Sam's reaction, Doctor Frasier paused a moment unsure how to proceed, afraid that with every step closer to her patient the more likely that she would react unpredictably and hurt herself. Glancing at the Colonel she saw him quickly cross the room and hit the light switch plunging the room into semi-darkness so that only the light from the hallway illuminated the infirmary. As Sam lowered her arm away from her eyes, he was there at her side holding her upright and steady.

"I'm here Captain. You're at the SGC"

Suddenly everything became clearer; Sam recognised the infirmary, her CO, and Doctor Frasier. Water still pooled and flowed around her ankles, and there were small silver lizards swimming around in it which made her stare at the floor, not believing her own eyes. It was the infirmary, but different; as though the beds were bigger and made from marshmallow and the walls were cavern like. Turning to face the Colonel Sam looked for any sign of truth. How did she get here? Was she really back at the SGC?

"Sir? What's happening? Where did all the lizards come from?"

Looking at the floor in confusion Janet saw only the metal medical instruments strewn from their jolted trays.

"Of course! The Captain is hallucinating!" She exclaimed, almost kicking herself for not realising before "Nurse, prepare 10cc's of Valium – stat."

As the nurse prepared the syringe Janet carefully stepped closer to her patient talking softly as she went, she had no idea what the Captain was seeing but she knew that the experience must have been confusing and frightening.

"Captain Carter, I need to you to listen to me. Everything must seem pretty confusing right now, and that you're seeing to strange things, but I'm going to need you to trust me and Colonel O'Neill. Can you do that?"

Sam looked at her CO who was still holding her arm. His hair was made of dark straw and was sticking out at all angles, but his face was still the same. To her right, Doctor Frasier looked orange still, but the ghostly bony features had disappeared and she looked similar to how Sam remembered her.

Nodding her head she started to relax a little, guided by Colonel O'Neill she climbed onto the comfortable marshmallow that she had been leaning against. Then she did a double take; was this really a marshmallow?

"OK Sam that's great, you're doing well."

Taking the syringe from the nurse, Janet carefully made her way over to Sam's bed. "I'm going to give you a little shot now, just to help you stay calm and relaxed – can I do that?"

Looking over at her CO, she saw him nod at her encouraging her to trust them both. Holding out her arm Sam let the Doctor inject her with the cold liquid. The moment it hit her blood she felt icy tendrils spread inside her arm. Looking down she saw metallic branches spreading up inside her vein beneath the skin and instantly started to panic.

"Argh! Stop!" Sam cried and tried to pull her arm away.

"Hold her! It's almost in!" Janet shouted as she held Sam's arm steady and pushed the plunger quickly.

Jack held Sam back against the bed as she thrashed and struggled, her eyes wide with fear of what she saw. Teal'c rushed forward and helped him hold her legs down while Daniel watched helplessly; his hands clutching his head seeing his friend fight in fear. Withdrawing the needle Janet dropped it into the instrument tray next to her and held Sam's shoulder still until the thrashing ceased.

"It's ok Captain, it's done, just relax now" she spoke softly trying to belay the fear in her patient, wondering what it was that her mind was telling her she could see.

As Sam went limp and starred at the edge of a metal instrument tray, they let go of her and backed away. Meeting each other's gaze across the bed, they breathed a small collective sigh of relief and moved over to speak out of ear shot. Teal'c and Daniel were pulled back to their respective bays by the med techs to continue with their screenings.

"Well, I think we can safely say that Captain Carter is under the effect of some sort of Hallucinogen."

"Ya think?" Jack said sarcastically, looking back towards his 2IC.

It reminded him of college all over again, the night when he found his roommate about to jump from a 2 story window after dropping acid. He hoped never to have to repeat that experience again.

"What can you do for her Doc?" he said resting his hands loosely on his hips, keeping his head low to speak quietly with the petite woman.

"Unfortunately not much I'm afraid, except keep her comfortable and wait for it to work its way out of her system. I'll know more once the blood tests come back. Until then the best I can do is keep her calm and give her something to focus on until the visual disturbances stop."

The Colonel nodded to her and rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. "How long do you think she'll be like this?"

"I wish I could give you some hard answers Colonel, but the truth is I just don't know. If we we're dealing with an Earth based compound I'd say a few hours before her body breaks it down. I only hope for the Captain's sake it wears off soon."

One of the medical technicians interrupted them suddenly. "Colonel O'Neill? General Hammond is on the phone for you."

Jack took a deep breath, bracing himself to deliver the news to the General. He turned and left Teal'c and Daniel with the Doctor while he took the call.

In all her years at medical school and in the field Janet had never before experienced anything like this, but then only a week into the job Janet Frasier was certain it wouldn't be the most peculiar case she'd ever deal with where the Stargate was concerned. One thing was for certain, she was glad not to be in Colonel O'Neill's shoes right now. Finishing his call with the General, he turned back to them with the look of a condemned man only to steel himself the moment he saw their eyes on him.

"Doc, if we're done here I have report to General Hammond."

"Yes sir. I'll keep you posted."

Jack looked at his 2IC and frowned, they were only a few weeks into the Stargate program and already he'd landed them in trouble. The SGC was on lock-down until the cause of Carter's mystery malaise was established and General Hammond was the red phone giving his initial situation report to the President. Stalking out of the infirmary towards the General's office he wondered how the hell he was going to explain any of this.

"Jack, wait up!"

He turned to see Daniel following after him then continued to stride through the corridor. He wasn't looking forward to getting chewed out in General Hammond's office, but he was sure it was a better option than whatever Daniel was going to say.

"This is not a good time Daniel; I have to report to Hammond."

Unperturbed, Daniel continued following after him jogging to keep up.

"Jack, we have to go back there!"

Jack shook his head. The archaeologist had absolutely no idea how much trouble Jack was in bringing one his officers back hallucinating and trashing the infirmary. All Air Force personnel with any sense could see it written in his body language and got out of his way. Of course, Daniel wasn't Air Force.

"We should find out exactly what that stuff was, why the Goa'uld took them there in the first place, why they didn't go back – Jack this is all important if we're fighting the Goa'uld! Ask Sam, she agrees with me here – we have to find allies to fight with."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing; Sam was in the infirmary and Daniel was still arguing with him about ancient cultures. He stopped and turned so suddenly that Daniel almost ran into him.

"Oh yeah Daniel, great idea! Let's just go ask Carter now shall we, see how keen she is to go back after they drugged her! We don't need those kinds of allies Daniel, we're not going back."

"But Jack…"

"Daniel, damn it I said no! Hammond's orders! He's debriefing the President right now explaining how one of his officers on the SGC flagship team came back through the gate high when we were supposed to be looking for Alien technology."

Jack starred hard at the younger man warning him to back off while he still had a thread of patience left; for once Daniel had the good sense to stay quiet although Jack could tell he was biting his tongue. If it had been anyone else, any airman on the base, Jack would have had him scrubbing toilets for a month for daring to challenge him while he was in this mood, but he couldn't stay mad at Daniel for long. Realising he had made his point he let it drop and continued towards the General's office.

"You want to go back there Daniel, you make your case to the General."

_AN. I did say I would explain what was in the drink in this chapter and I think I only did that in part. Some of you already figured it out by the end of part four so you'll get more techno babble detail in chapter 6 - I promise. Coming soon! As always, feedback is very welcome._


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1 or the characters, I'm just borrowing them for a while for my story and I'm not making any money for it. This is all for fun so please don't sue.

_AN/ In the first series of Stargate there many times when the dialogue refers to events that have happened outside of the episodes which we get to see. One of them is the events of P3X595. During the episode 'Emancipation' O'Neill refers to a time when Carter was pleased to see the team after drinking something that made her take off… we never find out what it was but by Carters reaction we know that it was embarrassing. All the cultural references come from internet research and are loosely based on Aboriginal Australian Dreamtime Mythologies. If they are incorrect then please remember this is only a work of fiction, and my intention was to write only a story, not to offend anyone._

The Story so far…

The team discover a lost Aboriginal Australian tribe on P3X-595 and spend the evening with them learning of their fight with the Goa'uld who enslaved them. After drinking an unusual flowery tea offered by the locals, Sam hallucinates heavily and O'Neill evacuates the team back to Earth. Frightened by the images she sees, Sam wrecks the infirmary trying to escape but is convinced of her surroundings long enough for Doctor Frasier to subdue her. In the meantime, General orders the base on lockdown and Jack to his office to explain…

_**Chapter 6**_

Reaching General Hammond's office Jack took a deep breath to prepare before knocking sharply on the door. The General opened it; his face tight with concern, and waved his hand for Jack to enter.

"Come in Colonel. Close the door and take a seat"

Sitting as he was told he waited for Hammond to continue. The General leaned forward with his fingers laced together on top of his desk, pinning Jack with steely blue eyes, scrutinising the Colonel before him with a demeanour so controlled and direct that his gaze felt like a lead weight.

"Colonel, I don't think I need to explain to you the seriousness of this situation. Your standing orders are to perform reconnaissance and seek out technology that will defend this planet against the Goa'uld. With that in mind, please explain to me how it is exactly that you return with a member of your team intoxicated with some kind of alien drug and hallucinating in the infirmary"

The truth was Jack didn't really know how it had happened. Even though the alien flower tea was the likely suspect, his 2IC could have been exposed to any number of things while she had been on the outcrop alone and he wouldn't know a thing about it.

"Honestly Sir, I'm not sure how it happened"

Jack's confession had General Hammonds eyes open wide stunned before he narrowed them and leaned in further.

"You're not sure? Colonel, this base on lockdown until we can be certain what it was and how it got into Captain Carter's system and you're telling me you just don't know?"

Jack winced inwardly, he knew how it sounded and he felt like an ass. If one of his own officers had come to him with the same sorry story he was sure he'd react worse than Hammond.

"Not exactly Sir, but with respect I don't think there's a threat to the base"

"You can't know that Colonel!" the General began heatedly "For all we know this drug could be some kind of chemical warfare that we've never seen before!"

Jack stayed quiet for a moment. Hammond had a point, but he doubted that whatever it was Carter drank was able to affect anyone else on the base. Having no proof, he would have to wait on the results of Dr Frasier's tests, and until then he had his tail between his legs.

General Hammond exhaled a long breath and sat back in his chair.

"I think you'd better start from the beginning son"

Jack proceeded to recount the short and sweet version of the events leading up to their invitation to share a meal with the Aborae people. Everything had been fine up until that point. While he explained himself to the General, Jack wondered when he had dropped his guard. Had he gone soft with Daniels influence on him?

"These people lead a fairly simple lifestyle Sir, Daniel was keen to talk to them to find out how they'd overthrown the reigning Goa'uld who took them from Earth, so I made a threat assessment and agreed to take up their dinner invitation. After a lot of talking with their leader, Daniel found out that the local people had managed to kill the ruling Goa'uld using basic weapons in a situation similar to the uprising that happened here on Earth. Carter thinks it's likely that the Goa'uld at the time didn't have a sarcophagus to regenerate from the injuries inflicted during the fight."

"So you'd established that there was nothing of strategic importance, why didn't you return then?"

"Well Sir, by then it was almost dark and given the distance to the Stargate I thought it better to stick with the plan and stay the night. Captain Carter also requested to make some star observations to update the SGC computer so that the mission would have at least be of some benefit to the programme"

"This was after the meal? Did you notice any change in her behaviour then?"

"No Sir, Carter was fine. On my order none of us had eaten a great deal and up until then we had drank only the water from out canteens. There was no change in her behaviour up to that point"

"On the telephone from the infirmary you said that Doctor Frasier suspects some kind of tea was responsible, I take it that was sometime later?"

"Yes Sir. Daniel heard about some ruin that he thought would hold intelligence on the Goa'uld and their use of the Stargate so I left Carter and Teal'c at the village while we went to check it out"

General Hammond sat up straight and leaned towards Jack, narrowing his eyes, burning his gaze onto Jack.

"You split the team? Why?"

"Captain Carter needed to complete her observations early the following morning so I ordered her to rest. According to Teal'c, it was while we were away from the village that they were offered the tea. When we got back the same stuff was given to Daniel and me, only he spilled his all over his shirt and frankly sir, I've never been a fan of tea"

The General studied Jack carefully, unsure that investigating ruins was a sufficient reason for dividing forces even if the local population appeared harmless. On Earth it wasn't such a problem, but SG-1 wasn't an Earth bound field team, they were the planet's first interplanetary exploration and reconnaissance unit and as such back up teams are limited and several hundred light years away.

"Was the Captain showing any signs of behaviour out of character when you returned to the village?"

"No Sir, she was a little jovial but nothing out of character, definitely no hallucinations. Teal'c even said she was fine when she went back to the telescope in the early morning"

General Hammond pursed his lips and frowned towards his desk for a moment puzzling through the information Jack had given.

"You're saying Teal'c drank the same tea that Captain Carter did?"

"Yes Sir"

"Then why isn't he affected?"

"I asked the same thing, Sir. Doctor Frasier had taken blood samples from everyone in my team so maybe that will tell us something."

"Have Doctor Jackson's shirt analysed also. Until we have some definitive answers our position is still the same; the base remains sealed and gate travel suspended."

Jack nodded sharply; so far things had gone well. He had explained all he knew to Hammond and managed to skirt around telling the General _how_ he had found the Captain, grateful for the fact that only he and Carter knew about those circumstances. He had heard the chit chat among the men on base, the jokes they made about wanting to 'accidentally' walk into the shared locker room at the right moment. The perpetrators of the talk had enough sense to shut up once they realised he was in earshot but it didn't stop them when he wasn't around. Carter didn't need any more fuel adding to that particular fire.

There was, however, the slight issue of the other scientist on his team.

"You should be aware Sir; Daniel has expressed an interest in returning to the planet"

"I assume you told him no" Hammond stated flatly.

Jack nodded.

"I told him your orders, but this is Daniel we're talking about, Sir."

General Hammond eyes dropped as he tightened his lips and shook his head almost imperceptivity. If it wasn't for Daniel Jackson's skill as an Archaeologist and linguist he would have had him removed from the programme for being such a pain in the ass. Civilians never did quite understand the words 'chain of command'.

"Right now my primary concern is keeping this situation confined to the base and for the welfare of my officer in the infirmary. I won't put anyone else at risk until we know what we're dealing with. We'll debrief the moment Doctor Frasier has some answers. In the meantime Colonel, I want a full report reviewing First Contact procedure including recommendations to protect future SG teams from situations like the one we currently find ourselves in. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Sir, perfectly clear" Jack stood to attention sensing the impending dismissal following the verbal knuckle wrapping he'd received.

"Dismissed"

General Hammond watched Jack leave his office and sighed. Turning in his large leather chair he frowned tight lipped at the red phone on his desk considering his next report to the President. The Stargate programme was in its infancy and he wondered how many times he would find himself in the position of punishing his officers over the handling of situations that they had never been trained for. It was clear that mistakes would be made in their explorations off world, perhaps some would cost lives, the best they could do was to learn from them in the hope that they would be better prepared for the next time.

All things considered he had let his 2IC off pretty lightly, but the General knew how to punish a man like Jack O'Neill with maximum effect: paperwork.

In the long time it would take the Colonel to write his report General Hammond knew he would review each and every one of his command decisions carefully and come up with the guidelines they needed so badly, especially with new SG teams in formation.

Shaking off his musings he picked up the hand set and hit the speed dial to the Whitehouse.

**x-X-x**

Standing at the doorway of the infirmary Jack paused a moment. It was the morning after he had left Captain Carter in Doctor Frasier's care and the drug in her system seemed to have worn off. She was sat up in bed talking quietly with the Doctor, her face calm though pale and make-up free. When her eyes found him at the doorway, her back stiffened noticeably and she looked sheepish. On Sam's reaction Janet turned and saw the reason, placing a reassuring hand on the young Captain's shoulder she excused herself and left them to talk.

"Colonel O'Neill, Sir"

"Captain." He acknowledged her crisply.

He took a few steps towards the bed keeping his face taut and impassive so as not to give away any of his concern. He wanted her to sweat a bit and think about her decisions carefully, just as Hammond had with him. Clearly embarrassed by the whole incident he could see it was an effort for her to hold his gaze, the opposite to the self assured Captain that had challenged him in the briefing room when they met.

After a few moments he softened a little, remembering the fear in her eyes the last time he'd seen her; she had learned her lesson the hard way.

"How are you feeling?"

"Doctor Frasier has the test results back and the drug has broken down so I won't hallucinate any more. I'm back in control again Sir" Sam answered efficiently.

"That wasn't what I asked, Captain" Jack replied taking another step closer to her and relaxing a little, hoping that she would follow suit and be honest with him.

Sam's eyes widened as she took in his words. Why wasn't he chewing her out already? The only time she had seen this reaction was right before an airman was transferred. That had to be it; he had come to tell her she was off the team.

"Sir, I'd like to apologise for my actions on the planet. I should have known not to drink anything that I didn't recognise. I'd like the opportunity to make amends for my actions, but I…" She paused and took a deep breath, the next few words were the hardest "I understand if you want me to leave the team"

Jack's eyebrows arched and he leaned forward not quite believing his ears.

"Excuse me? You're giving up that easily? Just last month you were threatening to arm wrestle me to keep your place"

In truth was he was just pleased that she was ok and he hadn't been responsible for bringing anything harmful back through the gate. After spending hours writing the report Hammond ordered he had reflected on his decisions and realised they all had lessons to learn. They had all been too trusting, including Teal'c. It was pure dumb luck that more of SG-1 weren't sitting where Carter was.

"Sir, I'm not giving up!" Sam panicked "I just thought, well, after what happened, you'd have put in the papers for my transfer already"

Jack caught his lips as they started to curve; clearing his throat to bring his thoughts back into check he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Yes, you do seem to have the same knack for finding trouble as Daniel. I'll have to watch that"

Sam picked at the edge of the bed sheets her face starting to colour, mortified at the memory of getting lost in the forest clearing and taking off her uniform. She hadn't been so out of control in her entire life. In a way she would have preferred it if the Colonel yelled at her.

"I'm sorry Sir. I put everyone at risk. I got the team, you, and the entire base into trouble. Not to mention the mess I made of the infirmary..."

"Carter, that's enough!" He said firmly, interrupting her self admonishment. Clearly he wouldn't need to kick her ass too often when she excelled at doing it for him. Seeing her startled look he continued more softly.

"You're not the only one who screwed up here. We're all new at this and from time to time the sh-...things... are going to hit the fan. You can't keep blaming yourself. Just blame yourself once and move on"

She nodded tight lipped, relieved that she had managed to keep her place on SG-1after all that had happened.

"Still, it won't happen again, Sir. I promise"

"I know. You're not going out of my sight for the next few missions. You're my 2IC now; we need to have an understanding of each other."

Jack wagged his finger back and forth between them but held his voice steady, partly chiding her and partly acknowledging that he hadn't exactly made the usual effort to bond. He'd let his usual dislike of scientists put a distance between them, a distance that lead to the present fiasco.

"Yes Sir." Sam replied flatly a little crestfallen. Her efforts to gain his trust had been undone through one stupid mistake, now she was back to the start again.

"Good. I'll leave you to get dressed Captain, we debrief the General at 08:00"

Watching him leave the infirmary Sam's stomach filled with butterflies. Facing her CO was one thing, but General Hammond was another. She had no idea if he knew about the incident in the clearing, as she pulled on her uniform she hoped that the Colonel had chosen not to mention it, just as he hadn't a moment ago with her. Stealing herself, Sam picked up her jacket and took a long look at the SG-1 patch on the shoulder before leaving to face the music.

**x-X-x**

Sam waited nervously for General Hammond to join Doctor Frasier and her team in the briefing room. Sat between Janet and her CO resisting the temptation to chew on her finger nails, she rested her arms on the sides of the chair and watched her team mates opposite. Teal'c sat calm and practically unreadable next to Daniel, who was flicking through his notes avoiding eye contact with Sam. His behaviour had been odd since they had taken their seats at the table; Daniel was the person she expected to support her most yet he was distancing himself. She wracked her memory trying to think; had she done or said something to him while under the influence from the drug?

General Hammond emerged from his office and Sam's thoughts were interrupted as she hastily got to her feet alongside her CO. Holding her breath with her stomach twisted into a tight knot she fought to control her anxiety, it was the moment of truth.

"Sorry to keep you waiting people. Captain Carter; glad you could join us."

His tone was even but the look in his eyes spoke volumes. He'd clearly not expected her to be present at debrief. They took their seats as the General shifted his gaze to Janet.

"Doctor Frasier?"

"The blood test results from Mr Teal'c and Captain Carter showed traces of a chemical that has similar properties to Psilocybin; a naturally occurring hallucinogen found here on Earth. The same chemical was found in the fibres of Doctor Jackson's t-shirt so it's highly likely that it was in the tea"

"So there's no threat to the base?"

"No Sir."

The General visibly relaxed on hearing the news.

"Very good, I'll inform the President and lift the lockdown order. Do we have any idea why the people of P3X-595 would do this? What could they possibly have to gain from drugging you with hallucinogens?"

Daniel shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat. "Uh, General - I've been doing some research on Aboriginal Australia, and cross referencing with Shamanistic cultures and the use of Hallucinogenic compounds here on Earth hoping to shed some light on that."

Sitting forward he handed a document to the General before passing others out to his team mates. Jack rolled his eyes semi-discreetly while Sam and Janet shared a look of surprise as they took the files.

"We know that on Earth Aboriginal Australians believe strongly in Dreamtime, their religion if you will, which describes creation and various gods and goddesses; some good and some cruel. The Dreamtime contains many parts: how the universe came to be, how human beings were created and how the Creator intended for humans to function within the cosmos. It is also believed that only in extraordinary states of consciousness can one be aware of, or attuned to, the inner dreaming of the Earth."

"This is all fascinating Daniel, but how does that explain why they drugged Carter?" Jack interrupted, his tone laced with sarcasm as he became increasingly impatient with the impromptu cultural history lesson.

"I'm getting to that, Jack." Daniel retorted, shooting him a look before sitting up straight in his chair and turning to a page in his own copy of his research notes and showing it to the General.

"The Hindus and the Aztecs used naturally occurring hallucinogens to facilitate meditation, as well as believing them to cure illness, and enhance mystical powers. In the Amazon rainforest tribal shamans drink a powerful hallucinogenic brew called Ayahuasca, meaning "the vine of souls", in order to induce visions. I don't think the villagers meant any harm when they gave us the Rainflower tea – I believe they may have been trying to share some kind of religious experience with us. Maybe the use of hallucinogens is common practice to them."

Jack's eyebrows lifted in astonishment that Daniel would actually suggest that the villagers hadn't meant to harm them. What did they think would happen for crying out loud? His 2IC echoed his thoughts.

"I don't think so. I mean, what I experienced was pretty extreme, Sir. I had no idea what was going on."

Sam glanced between the Colonel and General Hammond; she was keen to express the severity of her experience but not so much so that they had her on the couch with a shrink any time soon. The General regarded her carefully for a moment, the butterflies in her stomach to starting anew while she wondered what he was thinking behind his piecing blue eyes.

Teal'c lifted his head up from the paper Daniel had given him and broke the silence.

"You believe that the Aborae people wished to deceive us?"

"I don't know." Sam shook her head and paused for a second, considering her next words carefully. "I'm just saying that I don't understand why anyone would choose to deliberately take that stuff knowing what it does"

"Have you heard of the 60's?" Jack snorted.

"My point exactly"

Daniel held out his hands emphasising his point earning himself some astonished looks from General Hammond and the rest of his team.

"Would you care to explain, Doctor Jackson?" The General said tersely.

"Think about it, the Aborae people probably see the use of hallucinogens in a very different way to us; to them it could be a spiritual journey"

Silence fell around the table again as everyone pondered Daniel's suggestion. Sam certainly didn't feel like her experience had been any thing like a spiritual journey at all. Granted the experience on the outcrop had been pleasant to start with but after a while it had been down right disturbing.

General Hammond turned back to Doctor Frasier.

"Doctor, have you learned any more that would explain why Teal'c wasn't affected?"

"Well Sir, that's difficult to determine with our current understanding of Jaffa physiology, but it's likely that the symbiote can regulate the body chemistry to a degree that may offer an 'immunity' of sorts to certain narcotics. The tests performed in preparation of Major Kawalsky's surgery showed evidence of resistance to most types of anaesthesia"

Sam sat forward sharply turning to Janet.

"Maybe that's it, Doctor; is it possible that the effect of the tea could be different somehow in the Aborae people?"

Janet turned the question over in her mind bouncing her head slightly from side to side. "There's a chance that the hallucinogenic properties may be muted in the local population. There are certain species on Earth that have evolved a resistance to neurotoxins found in their natural habitat that would damage other organisms that came into contact. If the Aborae were taken from Earth 30,000 years ago it's possible that their bodies have become accustomed to the presence of the chemical if the exposure is often enough. However without performing the proper tests on the people of P3X-595 it's impossible to say for certain"

"Unless we go back we might never know"

Daniel commented pointedly to the General, ignoring the dark look shot his way from Jack on the other side of the table. The exchange didn't go unnoticed by Hammond.

"Whether or not Captain Carter was drugged deliberately or not is by the by, we can only be thankful that the situation wasn't more serious. Based on the mission reports there is nothing of any strategic importance to merit a return visit to P3X-595 and at present we do not have the resources to send a team to explore the Aborae culture further."

"General Hammond, Sir…" Daniel started but Jack cut him off warningly.

"Daniel"

The General continued.

"More SG teams are being put together at the moment so if the President sees fit our situation may change, for now we are to continue exploring these worlds for reconnaissance purposes only. Further more, in light of these events from now on all SG teams are to drink only water during missions off world to reduce the likelihood of personnel becoming intoxicated on duty. SG-1, consider yourselves on stand down until your next mission; I suggest you all use the time to assess Colonel O'Neill's recommendations for off world conduct. Dismissed"

General Hammond stood, the three Air force personnel at the table followed suit, before he turned towards his office to call the President. After watching him leave, Jack exhaled the breath he didn't realise he'd been holding and turned towards Janet and the rest of his team who looked dejected after debriefing, even Teal'c.

"Well, that could have been worse. How 'bout we all celebrate over cake in the commissary"

His question was met with a stony silence and unsure looks passing between Sam and Daniel. Janet took her que to leave giving Sam a reassuring smile.

"As tempting as that is Colonel, I have patients that need my attention. Enjoy your cake though."

"Okaaay…Daniel? You coming or what?"

Daniel shuffled his notes nervous of Sam's reaction to his suggestion that the villagers hadn't meant any harm toward her, but he relented on seeing Jack's almost pleading expression.

"Uh, I'm not really in the mood for cake, but I could use a cup of coffee."

"There's a shocker." Jack said wryly, the day Daniel didn't need a cup of coffee hell would freeze over. At least he had tempted one team member, now just two more to go. "Carter? Teal'c – you coming big guy?"

"Indeed, O'Neill"

Sam looked at her team mates for a moment weighing up the temptation to hide out in her lab until the gossip died down or to face the commissary in the company of her team mates – even if Daniel seemed off with her. Either way, she was bound to be on the receiving end of all the jokes and smart remarks for a few days, and avoiding it would only make matters worse.

"Sure, why not"

"Great!"

Jack clasps his hands together in satisfaction before ushering her towards the briefing room stairs before she could change her mind.

"Yup, nothing quite like cake and a good ol' cup of coffee…" his lips curled upwards as he turned to his 2IC unable to control the urge to tease

"…or maybe herbal tea"

The end

_AN - Thanks for reading :-) I'm always interested to hear your thoughts so please review and let me know. _


End file.
